The Dance and Beyond
by Jet556
Summary: Continuation to "The Epic of the Death Bat" centring on the coming dance and completely independent of Lee's adventures.
1. 8:02 AM

**Welcome, everyone. Lacking an idea for something fantastic for Basil and Venus that is completely independent of the main plot of the show I just named this story what it is about: "The Dance and Beyond." These initial chapters are set during "The Theme Team" so we won't be getting to the dance just yet.**

 **8:02 AM**

If Basil Preston Hagen, a student of A. Nigma High, were a character in a work of fiction he'd be described as half-agreeable in that he'd have both agreeable an disagreeable qualities. In his adoration for redheaded damsels there was a certain bit of ardor and even though he wasn't sure if he could do such a thing, Basil did have a desire to become an alluring Casanova.

In relation to if Basil was a character in a work of fiction if Venus Kellerman, a student of Archbishop of Dunan's and Basil's leman, she would be sympathetic but she would also be both adoration interest and ardor butt to him. She was in love with Basil solely while her beau was both in love with and coveted her.

Basil was an ugly fellow, at least in his opinion. Venus did not think he looked that bad. He had been born with a face that only a mother could love and his face had received some burn scars from a car accident, the scars having been an improvement. He was square in appearance with a Spencer Tracy-like square jaw, square fingers, square muscles and the top of his head being flat brought the Universal portrayal of Victor Frankenstein's Adam to mind. He was tanned skinned, had short brown hair that had until recently been medium length, and grey eyes. He wore a red flat cap, a white dress shirt, a red vest, black pants and black shoes.

Venus on the other hand was in general opinion beautiful. She was a redhead, black eyed, light-skinned and resembled Micheline Bernardini as a teen, which the dancer from the Casino de Paris had technically been when she modeled the first bikini in 1946. Her attire was something that was ever changing outside of her school uniform. Between the beret that she had favored and the Alice band she wore for school was in conflict about if she should retire the beret or not especially since the headscarf was now something that was interesting her. Her school uniform however consisted of a skirt, a blouse, a sweater, a blazer, ballet flats and the Alice band with the school's colors being blue, black and green. She wore a bikini under her uniform, as everyday she would teach her younger cousin Mabel to swim after school and it took less time to just remove her uniform with her bikini already on underneath it. Her bikini was something that also changed from time to time as new fashions came to her attention but her current one included filet and needlecraft. The top half of the set was a seashell tri bikini top that was pearl in color. It was simply a midsummer night's dream! It was the perfect balance between the allurement of negligee and the sweetness of white filet. Venus was the monarch of the faeries and princess of the baths with that beautifully delicate piece. The features included adaptable bands, a filet overlay and clasps at mid-back. With the seashell skimpy bikini bottom she had the best airy air. It was also pearl in color and brought the contemporary to the brash. Venus had been looking to allure Basil and those bottoms were perfect. The ludic negligee inspired filet overlay, gently gathered at the back and barely-there bands would heat up every single day. With the top it had a truly electrifying effect. Its features included a fully lined filet overlay, adaptable bands and cheeky coverage. And now Venus, with an eye for fashion, had her eye on a new line.

As Basil walked her to school, Venus read from her magazine while Basil kept his hands on her to keep her from walking into someone or something. Then did she exclaim: "Basil, look! Conjugal-themed bikinis!"

"That is great, how much are there?" asked Basil, more focused on directing his girlfriend than he was hearing about the bikinis.

"Only twenty-four dollars!"

"Venus, please don't bankrupt me by buying bikinis for you."

"I just want one!"

"You already got a new bikini a few weeks ago and you're wearing it under your clothes. Be content with being the monarch of the faeries and the princess of the baths now and you can be a newlywed in a few years."

Venus stopped walking and looked up at Basil. "Basil, are you proposing?"

Basil had one answer for that: "Not yet."

Venus returned to her magazine and said: "Oh, these skirted bikinis are nice. I like this acid-colored one."

With a confused tone Basil asked: "W-What kind of a color is acid?"

"Highlighter yellow."

Basil's confusion was only increased. "W-Why would anyone want to wear something that color?" He then shook his head. "Forget it… Would you like to join me for the dance that is coming up at A. Nigma?"

"Of course." Said Venus, putting her magazine in her purse. "But what will Kimmie say? Isn't she kind of mad about you dating someone from another school?"

"She has already branded me a backstabber. What's she going to do? Excommunicate me?"


	2. 8:18 AM

**Welcome back, everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **8:18 AM**

Excommunicate him? Unlikely. At that very moment Kimmie was in the gym with the other Glamazons waiting for their turn to pitch the theme of the coming dance. Thus was Basil stuck in homeroom, his eyes staring at the television screen in boredom as he wondered: "How long is this going to take?"

The Goths or Emos or whatever they called themselves, Basil didn't really care, had already presented some "shadow dance" idea. How… moronic.

At this point some sort of masquerade ball idea would be… No, that would be horrible. It would invite "Is that your mask or your face" questions and those were questions Basil did not want and it was the reason why he was dreading Halloween. People may have said he didn't look that bad and that the scars were an improvement but Basil was not always sure about that.

He did not want to be compared to Erik, the Phantom of the Opera either. Although his deformity was often toned down in adaptations, to the well-read Basil all that appeared in his head when he heard the moniker was the corpse-like man with a "death's head." Although a villain Erik had his both good and bad qualities, one portrayal was that of an irredeemable slayer and Basil could only hope none of his classmates had ever seen that adaptation. All Erik wanted was to be loved and have his work proclaimed a masterpiece and he was a sad, confused man whose deformity caused him to not know what to do with himself but despite being a master of music, art and architecture and possessing the most beautiful voice a man could have the way he had been treated because of his deformities had caused him to cut himself off from humanity and become a mad animal. Erik's jealousy was also something not good, as he did not take Christine Daae's love for Raoul de Chagny well and he even felt entitled to have Christine but at least had the decency to not defile her. Basil could have thought of some more reasons he would have not wanted to be compared to Erik but in his mind he had thought of enough. To be compared to a kidnapper and a murderer was not something Basil wanted. He may have not looked the best but there was no way he would ever wish to be compared to Erik, whose alias included the Phantom of the Opera, the Opera Ghost, the Angel of Music, the Red Death, the Trapdoor Lover, the Man's Voice, le Mort Vivant and the Mask.

No, no. None of that! None of any such things that would result in an insult to him! Basil could only hope that the themes to be suggested would not be something moronic, something horrible, something inviting to insults.


	3. 9:05 AM

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 **9:05 AM**

Forty-nine minutes later and Basil was still bored… And tired! Standing up, Basil grabbed his bag and said to the teacher: "I'm going to the library to study. Do I need a hall pass or anything?"

The teacher just waved Basil off while muttering: "Alright, fine. Nothing interesting suggested for a theme yet anyway so you won't be missing anything."

Walking out of homeroom, Basil made a right and walked down the halls of the A. Nigma. At one point he turned a corner to see that Lee Ping and a guy who looked like a bald gorilla looking at the door to the janitor's closet. Basil had a good understanding of the layout of this boring old school there was nothing of any interest at A. Nigma High, he knew the place like the back of his hand: there was a little birthmark on his pollex and another on his wrist.

"They are fascinated by a door to a janitor's closet?" Basil muttered to himself, being too far away to actual know what they were talking about. "These guys suck!" And with that Basil turned around and went the way he came from. Had he known Lee and the bald gorilla were investigating some strange happenings at A. Nigma, he would have thought better of them.

Once he went down a different route, Basil stopped at a window and stood there. He looked out at it, almost expecting another Death Bat to show up but alas no such thing happened. It was strange. Without the Death Bat around anymore he felt bored, he felt like there was no adventure in his life anymore, he felt like he was a background character in a really good television show that would fail in America due to an incompetent network mangling it but due great otherwise in its home country of Canada and in Australia too.

"There is no use in staring out a window waiting for something to happen." Basil remembered his father Cassius saying. What was he to do then? Go looking for vampires? He hadn't a checkbook.

Basil smiled at the joke he had just thought that was more suited for the 1930's than it was the modern day. A vamp was a woman who used sexual attraction to exploit men. Famous examples included the biblical Delilah, Jezebel and the Batman villainess Poison Ivy, of course that character had since moved on from vamp to eco-terrorist so that showed just how familiar with her Basil was. Synonyms included seductress, temptress, siren, femme fatale, sex kitten, trollop, home wrecker, man-eater, flirt, coquette and tease. Basil did not much care for vamps he preferred to be the male equivalents of all of those, which he only managed to be with Venus.

Turning another corner, Basil bumped into… A cheerleader… She was… Drat! What was her name? Ava something-or-other. She looked like a Bettie Page, that American model that would be three years dead in December, with a few differences. Her skin was chalk white, her hair was not as wavy as Bettie Page's had been and it was a dark color of auburn and her eyes were jade. Her uniform, which had custom made herself, featured a darker color of jade than the usual green of the other cheerleader's uniforms and she wore lipstick that was the same dark shade of jade. She was an exceeding comely auburn-curled gentlewoman that Basil had seen at the beach once in an exceeding form-fitting bikini, with an ample yet brawny anatomy, an ample bust and long comely limbs. Her face was heart-shaped and she had an hourglass figure to match and she also happened to be shorter than the other cheerleaders… Actually she was probably about Venus' height.

"Oh, Basil!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, Ava—"

"Pamela." She corrected him.

Pamela Pepper! That was who she was. That was quite the name. Sounded like a comic book character's name… But who was he to talk? He was named Basil Preston Hagen.

"Sorry, Pamela." Basil's heart started to race. His ardor was working up, he was growing concupiscent but he was with—"

"I was just looking for you actually." Pamela said, an alluring tone to her voice and her eyes half-closed. "Would you care to get a bit more acquainted?"

A stupid grin appeared on Basil's face. "Oh, yeah…"


	4. 9:23 AM

**Welcome back, everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **9:23 AM**

In the library, Basil sat opposite of Pamela. They had been chatting for the past eighteen minutes and at that very moment in the gym, the Mathletes were giving their pitch for the theme of the dance: some absurd computer dance. The two had asked about each other and so Basil had learned about Pamela.

"So as a babe flora in your family's greenhouse were your only compeers and late in elementary school you were a plain wallflower?" asked Basil, quite surprised at the belle that a plain wallflower had blossomed into.

"That is right." Pamela moved from the chair she was in to one more closely located to Basil's. "What do you think?" She then leaned in closer, her lips close to him.

Basil now excited but somewhat hesitant to commit fornication, as he was involved with Venus, looked Pamela in the eyes. He was a concupiscent individual but until then his ardor had been only for his leman Venus.

"Perhaps that question is not suited for a communal locus." He ultimately said. Then a thought came to his mind. "So, why exactly aren't you with the other cheerleaders?"

"They didn't want me to eclipse them so Toni… cashiered me, as Principle Barrage would say." Stated Pamela.

"Cashiered?" asked Basil, not understanding the military term.

"Discharged, terminated… You get the idea?"

"You mean you were axed?"

Pamela smiled. "You're smart."

"One of the smartest." Said boastful Basil, placing his hand on Pamela's knee without even realizing what he was doing. Then a thought came to Basil's head that caused him to realize he had his hand on Pamela's knee. Removing it, he then asked: "Did Kimmie put you up to this?"

"Why would you ask that?" asked Pamela, batting her eyes at him. "The Glaamazons and cheerleaders are rivals for the theme of the dance."

"You aren't a cheerleader anymore." Basil pointed out. "Did she put you up to this to… Never mind, it doesn't really seem like something she'd do."

"What's the matter, Basil?"

"I have a girlfriend." Stated Basil. "I am excited but I don't want to—"

"What is the matter, Basil?" asked Pamela again, putting a hand on his cheek. "Don't you want to sow your wild oats?"

Basil looked into Pamela's eyes, thoughts going through his head at such speed he wasn't sure what was going on. Finally, he just said: "What the hell." and kissed Pamela right there in the library.


	5. 10:03 AM

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 **10:03 AM**

What word could be used to describe Basil upon kissing Pamela? Using a thesaurus could give a number of synonyms: unfaithful, adulterous, faithful, fickle, untrue, inconstant, unchaste, cheating, philandering and, technically two words, two-timing. Of course, Basil had a rather archaic definition of what qualified what the thesaurus alternately calls a number of things but for the sake of formalness the word of choice shall be "fornication." As Pamela did not have a beau it did not count as fornication and so everything seemed perfectly fine to Basil. Of course, given Basil's views of some things he may not have been born in the correct time period but with his views being incompatible with a number of various time periods and cultures no time period could be called his time period.

After his kiss with Pamela, Basil persuaded her to just cut school and go back to his place. Pamela agreed and so Basil had her in the isolation of his own abode. He was in a concupiscent disposition and as he spoke with Pamela, the two of them sitting on a couch, he just leaned over and gave her a passionate kiss on lips.

Pamela would have pushed him away but Basil was whom she wanted. She saw no other boy at A. Nigma who was more perfect than him. She herself might have had views that would not have quite fit in among her contemporaries and perhaps views that would have seemed downright alien regardless of the time period. To her, skull-faced and scarred Basil was the only real member of the male gender among the student body of A. Nigma. And his constant reminder of Brad pushing him off a dock only showed that Basil was unforgiving to his enemies. In her mind, Pamela could only think: "Let all Nature stand up and declare Basil a man! No, let Nature declare him more than that! Let Nature declare him a god!"

A god? That would be a sure way to make Basil egotistic, indeed that was one of many things he could be. The most famous of philandering deities was Zeus, known as "Jupiter" in Ancient Rome and "Amen-Ra" in Ancient Egypt. There was indeed a darker side to Basil Hagen but it thankfully never showed up all that often.

Finally, Basil broke the kiss and said: "If you've been kicked off the cheerleading team then how about you get out of the uniform? You won't be needing it anymore."

Pamela gave an exciting smile, stood up and did indeed undress. Basil discovered that Pamela, much like Venus, was a beautiful redhead who wore a bikini under her clothes, a black strapless bikini. This was turning into a very good day for Basil but if he had been a self-aware character in a work of fiction he would have been a tad more cautious instead of excited.


	6. 10:19 AM

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 **10:19 AM**

Rather than get coital, Basil and Pamela merely moved their conversations to the poolside. With his head in Pamela's lap as she sat on the edge of the pool Basil asked a question he had once asked Venus: "So what do you want to be?"

"An exotic belly dancer." Answered Pamela. Venus wanted to be a showgirl, which itself was a type of dancer. It seemed the similarities between Venus and Pamela implied Basil had a specific type beyond a girl being just redheaded. Basil would have thought about this but he was too concupiscent to do so. "What about you?"

"Either an actor or a writer." Replied Basil. "I've been reading some of Arthur Conan Doyle's work recently and I find his Sherlock Holmes stories to be rather average, his historical fictions and his Professor Challenger stories are so much better! 'The White Company', 'Tales of Long Ago' and 'The Lost World' are great reads but sadly it is only the last of those that gets any recognition by the public. Wallace Beery, Claude Rains, John Rhys-Davies and Bob Hoskins have all played Professor Challenger but who has ever played Alleyne Edricson or any other protagonists of the short stories that comprise 'Tales of Long Ago?'"

"I take it that is rhetorical." Said Pamela with a sigh. She had read the Sherlock Holmes stories and 'The Lost World' but beyond those she knew little of Arthur Conan Doyle's other works.

"It is indeed rhetorical. Sir Arthur's historical fiction and Professor Challenger stories are much more inspiring than some silly detective stories! Such great works of literature are left unknown to the public and have never been adapted. I want to write stories like those and I want them to be recognized! I will write such stories and the—"

Basil did not get any farther. Pamela lifted his head and have him a kiss on the lips. Well she had too otherwise Basil would have been ranting for the next hour. Venus would have done the exact same thing to shut up her beau because no one, not even a significant other of Basil, wanted to hear him rant for an hour.

The kiss only caused Basil to become even more concupiscent. He broke it, sat up and then he kissed Pamela, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer to him and then began to fumble around the back of her bandeau with intentions to unclasp the back closure.

Then Pamela grabbed him by the wrist and said one word to Basil: "No."


	7. 10:21 AM

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 **10:21 AM**

"No?" asked Basil, after two minutes of silence. "What do you mean by 'no?' You asked me if I wanted to sow my wild oats so—"

"Not out here, Basil." Answered Pamela, keeping her grip on Basil's wrist while keeping her other hand behind her back and clutched over the clasp of her bandeau less Basil try to unclasp it again with his other hand. "If you get amorous with me out here I might be less than discrete and cry out a little too loud in bliss."

"Venus has never had problems with me ravishing her out here."

"Well, I'm not your Bishop Dunan's girl." Pamela did not loosen her grip from Basil's wrist. "I am not the debauched, I am the—" Pamela did not get any further. She had given Basil an alluring smile with her eyes half-closed and then he just interrupted her with by osculating her amorously. She let go of his wrist smote his thorax until he broke the osculation and when he did she exclaimed: "Don't you interrupt me with a kiss you bas— Mm!" Pamela again found herself interrupted by Basil placing a kiss on her lips. This time she unclutched the clasp of her bandeau and smote Basil's thorax with fists but this only gave Basil the chance he needed: he unclasped her clasp, causing Pamela to break the osculation and give an affrighted bawl and cover her bosoms with her arms to maintain her modesty as he bandeau fell onto her knees. Basil could only laugh, taking Pamela's bandeau in his grip and so did she exclaim in an affronted tone: "That isn't funny! Do you do this to your Bishop Dunan's Girl?"

"Of course not." Said Basil, holding Pamela's bandeau out of reach.

"Then why do you do it with me?"

"Venus is my leman, you're not." He then proceeded to throw her bandeau into the pool.

"Then what am I?" Pamela was beginning to look very annoyed at how Basil was acting. It seemed with another girl Basil was completely different from how he was with Venus.

Basil just shrugged. "I don't know."

Pamela glared and looked away from him, her expression now a mix of annoyance and arrogance. "You… You… You…" She gave an exasperated cry, stood up, turned around and then sat right back down with her back to him. She then closed her eyes and began to wonder how she could have ever taken this concupiscent criminal to be her ideal… A sound of something being pulled out of the water then came to her ears. She then felt something wet against her front and so Pamela lifted her arms a bit so Basil could put her bandeau back on her. Once it was she turned to Basil and said: "You ludic love!" before she then kissed him.

It was approaching incongruous. Pamela had intended to debauch her infatuation Basil and it seemed instead he was debauching her.


	8. 10:31 AM

**Welcome back, everyone. Enjoy and review and merry Christmas.**

 **10:31 AM**

After Pamela's kissing of Basil, there was very little affectionate or concupiscent activity from either for the next ten minutes. For Pamela it was affectionate, even if she was playing the part of the coquette she was not doing so out of ardor but out of adoration for a boy she had barely talked to prior to that day. For Basil it was concupiscent due to a clarification of troth that was better suited for Viking Age Scandinavia than it was than it was the present day, he might have had a bit of affection for Pamela but his affection for Venus was greater. Although Basil was aroused with ardor he was taking his time with Pamela.

In the pool now, Basil watched as Pamela dived in. He imagined her a mermaid just as he had done with Venus many a time and he imagined he would catch her as he had also done with Venus. After ten minutes of chaste he felt that it was time to get amorous again.

He dived beneath the water and swam to Pamela. He wrapped his arms around her and was about to press his lips to hers for an immersed osculation only for Pamela to beat him to it. Being underwater it was not possible for the osculation to last long. They would have to come up for water eventually.

The osculation lasted for two minutes until they eventually surfaced to breath. Two minutes was the most amount of time one could hold their breath underwater so it was only natural that once the time had elapsed they would surface. Basil had done this with Venus, he knew how long kisses between two people could last underwater so he was not surprised but Pamela on the other hand was rather surprised, frightened and shaken.

"I-I-I…" Pamela took a breath before she tried to talk again. "I don't think I ever want to do that ever again."

"Venus never has a problem with kissing underwater." Commented Basil.

"Well I'm not your Bishop Dunan's girl!" exclaimed Pamela. "I-I could have drowned."

"Pamela, relax. It is a swimming pool not the ocean depths."

"I don't care if it is a three foot deep puddle, I am not kissing while underwater ever again!"


	9. 10:48 AM

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 **10:48 AM**

Tired of swimming, Pamela climbed out of the pool. Grabbing a towel that Basil had laid out for her she then proceeded to dry herself off. Then Basil just snatched it from her resulting in Pamela crying out: "Give that back! I need to dry myself!"

"I think I know a better way to dry yourself off." Answered Basil, keeping the towel out of reach as Pamela tried to get it back.

"And just what pray tell would that be?"

"By letting the burning in my ichor do it." Basil was of course being poetic and at the same time audacious. Pamela was blushing immensely. When she had decided to go through with her plan to debauch Basil she had no idea he was so audacious. She had come to believe him to be concupiscent but never audacious. What was she to do? Feign ignorance at what he meant? No, he'd never fall for that. Basil did not let her answer. He merely walked over to her and placed his hands on her waist, watching as her blush became even more immense. "There is no escape." He said, his tone a ludic one.

Pamela's blush was now thrice as immense than when it started. She delicately smote him on the chest and said: "I will always abscond!"

Basil gave a small laugh and then said: "You are my captive." His tone was still ludic.

Again Pamela delicately smote Basil's chest, her face as red as it could ever be, and said: "I will be no one's cap—" She did not get any further. Basil gagged her with an amorous osculation and Pamela would have then dropped her ludic blind of contempt had she not had a few more ideas in her head. With her fingernails she excoriated him.

To Basil this was certainly something new. Venus never excoriated him but here was Pamela who would. Her fingernails were really leaving stigmata and it was the shock of that caused Basil to break the kiss.

"M-Maybe I go too far with the activity." He said.

Pamela pressed her lips against Basil's, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I should play the part of the disobedient captive." She said after breaking the kiss. "But I think I may be playing my role a bit too well." She pulled a hand back and looked at her fingernails. They were imbrued with ichor. "I should not be so aggressive when you are just being ludic. Kindly persist… My captor." A ludic smile formed on Pamela's face as she said those final two words.

Basil returned the smile, both concupiscent and ludic and then resumed his osculating of Pamela, whom in turn, resumed her excoriating of Basil, albeit more gently this time. Thus did Basil and Pamela miss voting when it came time to decide on the dance's theme!


	10. 9:59 PM

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 **9:59 PM**

"So what is your opinion on Pamela?"

Basil lay on his bed, phone to his ear. Venus had asked the question rather than him because at that point of the day he was seriously thinking his clarifications of troth and fornication over. His clarification was what qualified as troth and what qualified as fornication was a rather simple attached guys having relations with unattached girls was troth but an attached guy having relations with attached girls was fornication. His clarification of such concepts belonged in a whole different era.

"I don't know… She is a good girl, why are you asking me this?"

"Well, I'm okay with your clarification of what qualifies as troth and what qualifies as fornication but if you aren't so sure about adding her to your harem—"

"Don't use that word!" exclaimed Basil, sitting up completely. "It cannot be called that word if it is less than three and besides that word reminds me of… elk."

"Fine then." Chuckled Venus. "If you aren't sure about making her an… ancillary leman then don't. Of course you have a pretty rare type, Basil, so making her an ancillary leman might be a good idea on your part."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Redheads who wear bikinis under their clothes." Stated Venus.

"Yeah, what about redheads who wear bikinis under their clothes, Venus?"

"As one such member of your type, let me put it this way, Basil: we are a rare breed."

"Then I should make her an ancillary leman?" asked Basil, completely confused at this point.

"Well, lets just use once certain question: what does your abdomen tell you?"

"My abdomen?" Basil was not sure what Venus was asking.

"What is your gut telling you?"

Basil gave a shrug. "I don't know…"

"What was your gut telling you when you met Pamela this morning?"

"I want her but I am with Venus..." Answered Basil. "We've been over my clarifications of troth and fornication but I think my gut was trying to tell me something now that I think about it."

"Exercise caution?" Venus inquired.

"Exactly! I know my definitions of those things but I continuously remembered I have you as a girlfriend, a leman…"

"But you ultimately kissed her." Venus pointed out.

"Yeah, I know."

"And you seemed fine with getting amorous with her later… Could it be you felt uneasy about Pamela specifically?"

"I guess… And later on I unclasped her bandeau, something I would never do with you. What do you make of that?"

"Well, you might have just been trying something different with a different girl." Said Venus. "However when you tried the kissing underwater bit that I love so much she didn't like it, so you were probably just trying to figure her out. You figured me out pretty quickly."

"You are different, Venus. I both adore and covet you… I just covet her."

"Then maybe when it isn't both adoration and ardor you are slower when figuring out girls. You also found out what you don't like. You don't like it when a girl scratches you roughly."

"She actually drew blood, Venus! You saw the scratches!"

"I know, Basil. I know. It was a learning experience for all of us. Maybe I should try scratching you gently."

A grin formed on Basil's face. "So, what exactly do you think I should do about Pamela?"

"I don't know. Make her an ancillary leman or don't. It is your clarification of troth and fornication and I'm okay with it but it should all come down to what your feeling about her is. Remember you both covet her and were feeling uneasy about her. I suggest you approach her with caution, she might not be someone making an ancillary leman even if she is temporary."

"That is a good suggestion." Admitted Basil. "Good night, Venus. I love you."

"I love you too, Basil."


	11. 8:06 AM

**Welcome back, everyone. These chapters as set during "Knock Knock." Enjoy and review.**

 **8:06 AM**

After having walked Venus to school, Basil went over a number of things in his head. First was what he and Venus had talked about as they walked together.

"If you do make Pamela an ancillary leman I'll have someone to go bikini shopping with." was what Venus had said. "Well, really shop, talk with, a friend really."

"You don't have any friends at Dunan's?" asked Basil.

"Not really." Venus answered. "Dunan's is pretty rigid with the students. Students form friendships within their cliques, their date within their cliques or if they are a one-gender clique they date someone from their counterpart of the opposite clique if the are straight or bi, obviously the latter all rests on if the person in question is currently interested in someone of the opposite gender."

"And you don't belong to a clique?"

"Not really and I'm not sure I'd want to be. Quentin is in some pretty hot water for wanting to date outside of the in-crowd and since I'm dating you I'd obviously be in hot water for dating someone outside of own school."

"How is Quentin by the way?"

"He has really improved, turned over a new leaf actually, genuinely friendly with me and not quite so stalker. After the episode with Joseph he also seems a lot more cautious about whom he talks to as well."

Cautious? A wise thing to be and caution was something Basil should exercise at his own school. A. Nigma was a place where he had been branded a traitor for dating Venus, a student of Bishop Dunan's. There were some who didn't think of him as a traitor, Tina Kwee for instance, and that was a…

Basil stopped in his tracks as he reached A. Nigma and noticed Kimmie and that weird kid, Ogier or Oddgeir or something, walking off arm in arm. Basil could only stare. What was going on here?

Given Basil's branding as a traitor by Kimmie he shouldn't have been one to judge but there was just something so strange about all of this. Kimmie and Ogier/Oddgeir walking off arm in arm and just yesterday Pamela approached him… There couldn't have been a connection could there?


	12. 8:17 AM

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 **8:17 AM**

Kimmie and Ogier and Oddgeir or whatever his name was… How? It could not have been some sort of natural thing. That bony oddball did not seem like Kimmie's type… whatever that was.

Sitting at his desk in class, Basil wrote in his notebook as he tried to make sense of it all. He just muttered to himself: "Pamela approaches me yesterday, Kimmie and Ogier walk arm in arm today… What is going on here? Pamela isn't genuinely interested in me she is under some sort of… Oh my god." Basil brought his palm to his face as he ended up writing in Irish.

It was at this moment that Brad leaned over and asked: "So whom did you vote for yesterday? Was it me and Tina's 'Save the Rainforest' dance?"

Basil's eyes widened and he stared into space. "I… I forgot to vote." He said.

"How?"

"I was distracted."

"Doing what?"

Basil opened his mouth to answer until he realized something. His definitions of some things would not match the definition others had of those things. The only answer he could give was what he had said to the teacher the previous day. "I went to the library to study?"

"Why?"

"What part of 'to study' did you not understand?"

"Why would you go to study when everyone was supposed to be voting on dance themes?"

"Because by the time I left the only themes put forward had been the Shadow Dance and… I think that is it unless I am forgetting one. The only one of interest seems to have been the one you mentioned."

"Really, you think so?" asked Brad.

"Yeah, did it win?"

"By a landslide!"


	13. 9:11 AM

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 **9:11 AM**

Ogier and Kimmie today, Pamela approaching him yesterday… There had to be a connection. What could it have been?

In the hall Basil thought the whole thing over even as Pamela walked up to him. "Hey, Basil!" she exclaimed. "I got a free period, how about you?"

A free period… An excellent time to see if there was any connection between Pamela's approaching of him the day before and Ogier and Kimmie walking arm in arm. Coincidentally, his class had been cancelled for some reason or other that Basil couldn't remember, something about an exploding projector.

"Well, on a technicality yes." Basil answered. "How about we go back to my place and we talk?"

"We can talk on the way there." Pamela held onto Basil's arm and together they walked out of A. Nigma. No one even bothered to notice. As long as Basil was walking with one of their own why should they care?

"Alright then…" Basil looked down at the steps as they walked down, thinking back to the time he had tripped down the steps and skinned his knee. That had actually been the first day of Grade Nine. He then brought up the subject. "So yesterday, you just approached me out of the blue."

"We ran into one another." Corrected Pamela.

"Whatever… But today Ogier and Kimmie were walking arm in arm and yesterday you had us… I'm starting to wonder if there is something deeper at work here than coincidence, something sinister."

"Who and Kimmie?" asked Pamela.

"You know that weird foreign guy… Ogier or Oddgeir or whatever his name is."

"Oh, you mean Holger. He is actually kind of comely in an awkward way." Commented Pamela. "No one I'd ever go for, awkward guys aren't my type. Basil, it is just coincidence. If you want me to be a secondary girl for you I am fine with that."

Basil was not convinced but he dropped it regardless. No need to let Pamela bring a knife into his back if he set her off or something. There was something terribly sinister going on, he just knew it. Of course, he was probably just being paranoid.


	14. 6:09 PM

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 **6:09 PM**

The day passed and Basil had told his suspicions to Venus at least fourteen times. The fourteenth telling of his suspicions had happened in Basil's backyard. Venus was sitting poolside reading a book while Basil just paced as he voiced his suspicions.

"Basil, you are being paranoid." Said Venus, not even turning to look at him. "There is no conspiracy going on at A. Nigma that is setting students up with each other. Holger and Kimmie just have a mutual attraction to each other. Pamela has a legitimate attraction to you, just as I do. Just relax."

"How can I relax? We can't be sure!" exclaimed Basil. "What if it is a plot by Brad and Chaz? To set people up with the most unlikely of—"

Venus just rolled her eyes. She put her bookmark in her copy of "I, Claudius", put it aside, got up, walked over to Basil and gently censored him with a kiss. That certainly calmed Basil down. Once he was fully calm, Venus broke the kiss and said: "You and Pamela are supposed to be meeting at 6:30? Let me come along. I'll keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't do anything suspicious."

"What? You mean like watch her?"

"Don't put it like that, Basil. I'm not going to spy on her. I'll come along with you, get to know her we can all socialize."

"What if it is a trap to get you killed?"

"Basil Preston Hagen, do you even hear yourself?" asked Venus. "This is another girl that understands your definitions. Trust me, we are rare breed already. Redheads who were bikinis under their clothes are rare enough but not all of us are going to be understanding of your definitions. Besides with me being at Bishop Dunan's I can't keep track of what is going on at A. Nigma, having her as an ancillary leman can be good since you don't really share any classes with her and having a pair of ears to know what is going on would be good." Venus then walked over to the pool and got her dress and shoes on while Basil just stood there. When she was finished getting dressed she looked over at Basil and asked: "Basil, darling? Why are you just standing there?"

"I can't remember where I put my phone and wallet."

Venus just stared for a moment and said: "Wow, have your suspicions really been messing with your head. There are on your kitchen counter, where you always put them."


	15. 6:33 PM

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 **6:33 PM**

At a part of the city that was not the mall, due to the fact that outside of shopping for books or movies Basil had absolutely no interest in the place, did Basil and Venus meet Pamela! The place was Bifrost Gardens, the moment they all met Venus and Pamela starting conversing with one another.

During their conversing, Basil stood there taking in the sight before him. Venus was wearing a blue dress and open-toed flats and Pamela was wearing a green dress and high heels… Of course, they obviously weren't the same style of dress but to Basil they might as well have been. Venus' was sleeveless, went down to her knees and had a sort of belt wrapped above the waist, just below the breasts. Pamela's on the other hand was strapless and at the same time going down to the knees. To Basil they were truly the same thing for with his understanding there existed on three kinds of dress and it went dress, wedding dress, kimono.

The thoughts going on in his mind started with "Well, guess Venus has a friend now" and ultimately ended with "Would it be amoral to go back to my place and try vintage?" The answer would be "Yes" and Basil would quickly discover he does not like the taste of vintage even if he did that.

Once the conversing had ended, Pamela turned to Basil and asked: "So where are we going, Basil?"

Basil merely stood there with a blank expression upon his countenance. He had completely forgotten to plan anything. His ardor was not even present otherwise something concupiscent would have come to mind. His mind was even a complete blank. Then the only logical thing came to his mind. "Uh, to the Abode of Alarm?"

"I think Quentin said that the place was getting renovated." Said Venus.

"I… I really didn't have anything planned." Confessed Basil.

Pamela merely shrugged. "Fine, we can go back to your place and chat, watch a movie, play a board game, take a swim, whatever."

"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Venus. "Basil, what do you think?"

Basil sighed and gave his answer: "Sure, whatever."


	16. 9:31 PM

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 **9:31 PM**

After a night that began with watching "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" while the three played "Snakes and Ladders" and chatted, resulting in three of Pamela's suggestions being knocked off the list almost immediately. Due to the film being two hours and eight minutes long, a few board games followed "Snakes and Ladders" such as "Scrabble" and "Clue."

During the playing of "Clue" Venus asked what everyone's favorite murder mystery was. Basil answered with "Murder on the Orient Express", Pamela answered with "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and Venus' was "Murder in Canton." Basil was quick to note that the stories they chose all had "murder" in the title.

"Snakes and Ladders" had been fairly quick, only about twenty minutes and "Scrabble" had been forty minutes but "Clue" had taken sixty-eight minutes to play meaning the three were finished just at the same time the film's credits had finished.

By the time the film had finished it was 8:58 PM. With a swim out of the question, Basil and Venus walked Pamela home. Once they had gotten her home, Pamela and Venus hugged and then the former shared a quick kiss with Basil.

After that Basil and Venus went back to his place. Upon entering Basil asked: "So are you sure it is alright for you to stay over tonight?"

"Basil, I have to bring Mabel home from school not walk her there too." Venus placed his purse on a table and then quickly removed her shoes. "Besides, I've stayed over night before. Everything is fine." She then turned to face him and asked: "How are you feeling? Still fearful?"

With a smile, Basil walked over to Venus and gave her an amorous osculation. After the osculation he answered with: "Excited."

"And how long have you been excited for?" Venus asked.

"I'd say about by the time we started out little movie and game night." Answered Basil. He then looked at the dress she had on and asked: "Is this a preview of what you will be wearing to the dance tomorrow?"

Venus nodded. "Of course, you expect me to wear my Bishop Dunan's uniform?"


	17. 8:07 AM

**Welcome back, everyone. From here on out we are on "The Dance" and depending on how many chapters "The Dance" takes a renaming might be required for this story. Enjoy and review.**

 **8:07 AM**

Morning came and once more Basil walked Venus to school. Venus was wearing his Bishop Dunan's uniform, having left her blue dress at Basil's to pick up after school and change into before going to the dance at A. Nigma.

As they walked, they reached the "crossroads" between A. Nigma and Bishop Dunan's. It was right there that Pamela quite literally ran into them.

Basil let out an exclamation of "What the?" while Venus just let out a cry. Pamela gave a sheepish look to which Basil asked: "Pamela… Why are you running away from school… With your phone in hand?"

"That!" Pamela pointed up to the sky, Basil and Venus following her finger to see a big, human-like animal gliding one hundred feet above them. It lacked pinions and was covered in an adamantine-external ensemble. It just floated inaudibly through the atmosphere.

"What is that?" asked Venus.

"Ah jeez." Basil looked down for a moment and then looked back up, pointing at the anonymous airborne humanoid. "First the Death Bat and now whatever the hell that thing is?"

"Is it… a person?" asked Venus.

"Since when do people fly like that? It has to be something accustomed or artificial." Replied Basil.

"Or the apparition of a more baffling case." Commented Pamela.

"Or that." Acknowledged Basil.

"Lets go find out what it is then!" Venus got up and went running in the direction the anonymous airborne humanoid was flying. Pamela soon followed and Basil was left sitting on the sidewalk.

Resting the side of his face in his hand, Basil tapped a finger against it before sighing and getting up. Hopefully this wouldn't turn into a whole new Death Bat.


	18. 10:16 AM

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 **10:16 AM**

The three followed the anonymous airborne humanoid for a couple of hours until it just stopped hovering in the air. It was directly outside of some sort building, a big one, office building probably but there was a surprising lack of windows. Indeed it was completely nearly windowless. The anonymous airborne humanoid just hovered out of one window that was one hundred feet up.

Basil looked up at the strange sight. An anonymous airborne humanoid was hovering one hundred feet off the ground in front of what appeared to be a nigh windowless office building.

"Okay…" he said, scratching his neck as he looked at what was going on. "We have what appears to be a person one hundred feet off the ground in front of an office building with almost no windows… Honestly, this is a pretty strange sight." He then turned around saying: "Okay, lets head to our respective schools and enjoy our day before the dance." Then he heard the sounds of footsteps and realized that Venus and Pamela had run into the building. So did he mutter: "Ah jeez."

Turning around, Basil entered the building. It was… Suspiciously lacking in a front desk, furniture, only a logo really. It was the silhouette of an owl with its wings spread. It was kind of creepy.

Taking a look around, Basil noticed a set of stairs. It seemed this place was lacking even a library. No doubt Venus and Pamela had gone up the stairs to get a better look at the anonymous airborne humanoid.

There was only one direction for Basil to go: up the stairs!


	19. 10:22 AM

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 **10:22 AM**

Where were Venus and Pamela? Wasn't that an excellent question? On the floor that the anonymous airborne humanoid was gloating by, Basil could find no sight of them. He looked around the entire floor, finally pausing when he came to a window and saw a cluster of balloons attached to a drone.

Basil could only stand there wide-eyed. How… How had they mistaken that for an anonymous airborne humanoid? They had seen a big, human-like animal one hundred feet above them that had lacked pinions and was covered in an adamantine-external ensemble. How could they have possibly mistaken a cluster of balloons attached for an anonymous airborne humanoid?

Wait… Who had attached a cluster of balloons to a drone and why was it hovering outside of this window?

There was something not right here. It all seemed like too much of a trap. But who could have possibly laid such a trap and why?

Venus! Pamela! Where were they? Through the building Basil ran, trying to find Venus and Pamela but everywhere he went all he saw was that owl insignia.

What was this place? What did this owl insignia mean? Basil wanted to know but finding Venus and Pamela was more important.


	20. 10:45 AM

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 **10:45 AM**

Twenty-three minutes later and all it had gotten Basil was having searched one floor. Rubbing his neck with his right hand, it suddenly hit Basil. Text message!

Immediately he took his phone out of his pocket and texted first Venus and then Pamela the same question: "Where are you?"

He waited a minute. Then two minutes. A third minute passed and then he called Venus. She didn't pick up. Maybe Venus and Pamela had gotten separated from one another and lost. He then called Pamela and found that she wasn't picking up.

There was something dreadfully base about all this. A bunch of balloons tied to a drone, a near empty building with owl insignia all over the place and now Basil could neither find nor contact Venus or Pamela.

It was almost like…

It was almost they had been lured here.

No, they couldn't have been lured here! Pamela had merely been following the… Wait… No, it couldn't have been true. It couldn't have been true. Could Pamela have somehow been in on this whole thing? No it couldn't have been true, it just wasn't possible.

But what if it was?


	21. 10:58 AM

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 **10:58 AM**

Basil continued on his search for Venus and Pamela. He was now searching the other floors in case they had not gotten up to… Basil paused when he came before another owl insignia. He would not have thought much of it but there was something different about it… It looked as if it was… fading… Fading and the eyes were glowing.

What was going on here?

Basil felt completely hypnotized by the glowing eyes of the fading insignia. The whole place was starting to change in appearance and look Egyptian… Ancient Egyptian.

Feeling disoriented by what was going on Basil turned around and found himself before… a well? Where had it come from? What was going on?

And then he saw his reflection. It still looked rather like he should save for a change of coloration and attire. His skin was ruddy, his hair red and his eyes mismatched with the left being blue and the right green… He looked Scythian, while his attire, a red loincloth that went down to his knees, looked positively generic sword and fantasy hero.

What was going on here? Was Basil even himself? Where even was he anymore?

Then there came a mist, going down the… Hall? Alleyway? What even was this place anymore?

It would have been foolish to follow the mist but still Basil, if that was who he was anymore, did so.

He heard a voice speaking in a language Basil did not know and yet at the same time did. He looked around wanting to know where the voice was coming from but alas could see no hint there was anyone here.


	22. 11:08 AM

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 **11:08 AM**

Basil, if that was truly who he still was, continued following the mist and the voice that was speaking a language he did not know but at the same time did. He finally came to a room upon which a girl his age with light skin, reddish-brown eyes and red hair that was long and straight was bound to an altar. She wore an amber breast band and a brown loincloth… Rather archaic as such things had been worn by some women in ancient times such as women for athletic purposes in Ancient Greece. It should be noted that she was gagged.

There was another girl, again his age. She had black hair that was long and straight, blue eyes and skin that could have identified her as belonging to any ethnic group but yet there was something about her that defied classification into any group. She wore a short-sleeved purple dress that merely went down to her knees. She was holding a knife.

"Basil!"

Basil shook his head and blinked. He was standing in a room bare of furniture. What he did see was Pamela holding Venus before her, the latter with hands bound behind her back and cloth tied over her mouth. Pamela was holding a knife before her.

With glazed over eyes Basil said: "Okay, I knew I wasn't being paranoid. Let me guess, you want to be my only girl, Pamela, and you are now threatening to kill Venus if you don't."

"Yes, Basil. Be mine! Only mine!" Pamela had just quoted every B-movie villainess who wanted the hero to be hers.

Basil did not get to give an answer. Quickly Venus got her hands free, knocked the knife out of Pamela's hand and then proceeded to knock her down completely. Venus then bound Pamela and Basil could see that Pamela had acquired a rather large rope, as Venus was able to tie both Pamela's wrists and ankles with it. Then removing the cloth from her mouth, Venus gagged Pamela with it while saying: "Trust me, my knots are far tighter than yours." The former then walked over to Basil and said: "I think we should call this the strangest break-up attempt ever."

"A bit of a cliché too with the whole murder of the hypotenuse." Said Basil. "Come now, Venus, Let us get you to school. I will come back for Pamela later."


	23. 11:52 AM

**Welcome back, everyone. From here on we are in "Return of the Ping." Enjoy and review.**

 **11:52 AM**

Basil looked at the aftermath of the second prank having arrived not long after the "Lee Ping Rules" conga line had started. He then looked over at Brad who had slammed face first into the wall of the gymnasium. Feeling particularly cruel towards Brad, of course no one would deny he certainly deserved it this time, Basil walked over to Brad as he was getting up and punched him in the face.

"What was that for?" asked Brad, looking offended.

"What do you think?" Basil asked in return.

Brad, pausing as he once again got up, looked to the side before taking his turn to ask a question. "Is that rhetorical?"

"You did do this did you not? I heard you declare it!"

"I did!"

"Then… Wait…" Basil paused. A rhetorical question was a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than get an answer. Was this a rhetorical question? He had already known the answer so then he did not need one. "This is rhetorical."

Getting up, Brad glared at Basil and said: "I saved the day!"

"How?" Basil gestured at all of the stuff around them. "How is this 'saved the day' and from what might I ask? Calling this 'saved the day' is like saying Caligula was Augustus' immediate successor! "

Brad stood there with a blank look. "Who? Wait…" He looked aside for a moment. Yeah, I know who Caligula and Augustus are." He then looked once more at Basil. "I know who those two are and for your information I did save the day! I saved the day from… Uh… Give me a minute."

"Take your time." Basil had a smug look on his face until he remembered something. Pamela! He ran from the gym. He had to go get her if she had not already gotten free from her bonds!


	24. 7:55 AM

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 **7:55 AM**

The next day came and it was a perfectly unordinary day. Basil had gone back and untied Pamela, spoke with her and felt not like things were better but rather uneasy. He legitimately did not like the jealous type but then again Basil was a hypocrite and spent a while making out with Pamela after speaking with her, regardless if he felt uneasy or not. Why? Because Pamela was a redhead, he liked redheads and ultimately his bent for girls who were red of hair overrode his dislike for the jealous type.

Were Basil a character in a work of fiction, he would in no way be considered an ideal character. He was a human being with his good qualities and his bad qualities. His preference for girls by hair color showed a certain physical attraction and the twain he was currently involved with were two he considered alluring. If he could truly be considered involved with both Venus and Pamela was something debatable for while he was acutely committed to Venus as a primary, he was cautious about Pamela as a secondary as his most recent moment with her could have been considered a moment of weakness. Hardly the first time he had such a moment.

Still, as he walked Venus to school he said: "I think everything will be just fine."

To which Venus inquired: "Really?"

And Basil replied with: "Only partially."

"Do you expect something to happen, Basil?"

"Venus, I'd be an idiot not to."

"I'm expecting something to but I'm not sure what." Venus commented.

That only caused Basil to wonder. What did she mean? Was she… gravid? Nervously, he asked: "In what way are you…"

"Just anything." Venus answered.

"Then you're not…"

"Oh, heavens no!"

Basil gave a sigh of relief. What a relief. He was afraid he was going to be like his paternal great-grandfather.


	25. 8:35 AM

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 **8:35 AM**

What could be said about this new day of school? Well, for one there was a new principal: Blompkins, a man who wore clogs and for some reason brought a shark to mind when Basil first saw him in the hallway.

Then there was the fact that Victoria was gone. Basil couldn't believe it. Where had she gone? And why? He was hoping he could still romance her. That was the problem with Basil. There were a thousand of interpretations that a single person could have about him and really, they could all be true in some ways. A general fact was that he in some ways been born in the wrong century but really wrong millennium and continent would probably be more accurate of course which millennium and continent was anyone's guess, the most anyone had to go on was not anywhere from 1012 to 2012 and not North America and when it came down to it all Basil's definition of fidelity was something that even an author of a story wouldn't be able to figure out if Basil was a character in that story.

Sitting in class, Basil could only try to process everything. What was going on? Where was Barrage? Where was Victoria? None of this made any blasted sense. Was it because Brad pulled a second prank? Were they honestly replaced because of that? The schoolboard was strict then.

Ultimately, Basil got to work on his class work. What were they doing? How was he to know? He wasn't exactly all there. He just answered the questions mechanically while he still tried to process everything.

It didn't make any blasted sense.

What was going on? Who was this Blompkins guy?


	26. 8:37 AM

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 **8:37 AM**

Two minutes passed and ultimately one of Basil's flaws came up. He had been rather good with it, not having turned to it since last spring. Ultimately, he just got up, asked for the hall pass and went straight to his locker. He opened it and grabbed a box of cigarettes

Basil smoked on occasion, one of the darker sides to him. If he was going to today was another question. He just stood there with the box in his hand and then a number of thoughts entered his head.

What if he was caught? Impossible! Even when he did no one ever caught him in the act!

Actually, that was the only thought to enter Basil's head. He cocked his head to one side in confusion as he had thought he had more.

Putting the box in his pocket, Basil walked back to class. Another time, later in the day, maybe tomorrow. Just not when he saw Venus.

Reaching for his lighter, Basil paused. Where was it? It wasn't on the shelf! Where was his lighter?

Walking back to class, Basil handed his work to his teacher. Looking at it, his teacher said: "You are a quick one, Basil."

"That I am, sir." Basil answered.

"That's all for today, Basil." The teacher said. "You may go to the cafeteria or the library if you wish."

The cafeteria or the library if he wished? At the moment, Basil wished to go home to find his lighter.


	27. 8:38 AM

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 **8:38 AM**

Leaving the school to go back home for his lighter, Basil let his mind wander. It wandered all over. He did not think of his classmates or former classmates as the case was with Lee Ping now expelled. He did not recall ever meeting Lee so what did it matter to him if he was expelled or not?

Yes, what did it matter to him? Basil could not think of a single reason for it to matter. Lee was as far removed from Basil's life as Basil was from Lee's, there was just no crossroads where the two met.

So, what was it that Basil thought of? He thought of the arrival of this new principal: Blompkins. What had happened to Barrage to cause this Blompkins to replace him? Had he suffered a mental breakdown? If he had why would this clog-wearing shark be the one chosen to replace him?

Basil could make no sense of it. Why? Why Blompkins? He looked far from sane, he looked as if someone who should have been in a straightjacket.

And where was Victoria? Where was Veronica?

Basil paused for a moment and let out a sad sigh. Nevermore was he to see her face. He had liked her. What could she have done to no longer be working at the school?

Veronica had been a very good woman. Beautiful, redheaded, an excellent… Basil shook his head and continued walking.

Was it just him or was he being rather slow today? How long had he been walking for?


	28. 8:45 AM

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 **8:46 AM**

Emerging from his house, Basil lit a cigarette and after that he just stood there. He stared into space, not a single thought going through his head. Did this sort of thing happen to Lee Ping or Camillio Martinez? Not really and it certainly wasn't something going on now with them given they were infiltrating Barrage, now Blompkins', office.

It did happen to Basil on the other hand. It was rare but it happened. This didn't even happen to him when he smoked, this just happened to him regardless of what he was doing.

Then did a thought did go through his mind. First Venus, then… What's-her-face… Pamela! He thought of Pamela next. A smile formed upon her face as he thought about holding them in his arms, kissing them… Then he remembered what Pamela was like. She was a… Well, it was best not to think nasty thoughts. The most Basil could think of Pamela was that she was a wild one.

Letting out a sigh, Basil put the cigarette away and his lighter in his pocket. How did he event start? He didn't know, stopping was a good thing to do, Basil knew the risks but at the same time he was an idiot.

What was he going to do? Basil sat down on his porch and thought to himself. Smoke? Don't smoke? Stay here? Go back to school? He had no idea. There was nothing going on, no new monster showing up like the Death Bat, no new guy interested in Venus like Quentin, no new redheaded girl interested in him, what was he supposed to do? Was he to just fade into the background? No, Basil had a life of his own. He would not fade into the background he would live and whatever happened would happen.

Still, the question of what he was going to do now remained. Go back to school was capital as was not smoking. Pulling the cigarettes and lighter out of his pocket, Basil the buried them in the front garden. He'd forget where he put them and that was the end of his smoking habit. Basil had smoked for a bit before that day, he just ended it then.

So now what? He had finished his work for that class so what was he to do? Go back to school and hang out in the library? He wasn't the kind of guy of coffee places, hated coffee, found it horrible so that was out. Stay at home and do some reading? Go for a walk? Well, there were three choices, so which did he choose?

Go to the library and read there? Stay home and read here? Either way one involved reading.

Go for a walk? He could meet Venus at the park for lunch as usual, but he'd have to drop by school to get his backpack, in which his lunch was located.

Shrugging, Basil sighed and stood up. Back to school was ideal. He'd have to go to his next class and with Victoria gone, his occasional skipping wouldn't go unnoticed.


	29. 9:06 AM

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 **9:06 AM**

Basil returned to school and while wandering the halls, saw an unconscious student on the floor with a pair of clogs nearby. There was a vent that had been broken open. He could only wonder what had happened.

Basil had never cared for clogs of any kind. They gave him corns and so had no reason to care for them. Some clog hater must have… No, the guy had no clogs or any kind of footwear on. Whatever happened here must have been due to an unusual circumstance like the Tazelwurm going on a rampage or something. That was unlikely however.

What was he to do then? Go to the library? Perhaps. Maybe there was a pretty redhead for him to flirt with. He had a girlfriend, of course, but having a girlfriend had never stopped Basil from flirting with girls before but given his preference for strictly redheads, that meant he did not flirt with every girl he saw. Were he living somewhere with a large population of redheads he would be flirting with most of his female classmates!

What was there to read in the library? He had read many things, most of the things in the fiction section he had probably already read. He had read "The Three Musketeers" enough times to know the words like the back of his hand.

"Twenty Years After"? Maybe, he liked that sequel to "The Three Musketeers." "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Tens Years Later" was good but due to a lack of Rochefort, his favourite character in the d'Artagnan Romances, he did not find it lacking. Ironically, the various adaptations titled "The Man in the Iron Mask" or some variation were, was the second most popular of the three romances but that was only because of the famous subplot.

He wondered what what's her name was doing. Venus he could definitely remember that name of, he'd never forget it but that second girl he had become involved with, what was her name? Pepper? Pashmina? Pamela? Pamela! That was it! Her name was Pamela! What was she doing right now? Sure, with everything she had done it wasn't a good choice but what other redheads were there for him to have fun with? At A. Nigma, obviously there was Venus but she was at a different school, still in the same area, but different all the same.

Maybe he could have made use of one of the computers? Maybe read a public domain book that wasn't on the library shelves? Now there was an idea.

"Basil!"

Basil jumped and turned. It was Brad. What did that pompous obnoxious spoiled brat momma's boy of a baboon want?

"What, Brad?" asked Basil, a look of complete disinterest upon his countenance.

"We need to talk!"


End file.
